Hyderabad: In response to the strike by junior doctors working in state government hospitals, chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Wednesday decided to increase the honorarium paid to the senior residents by 15 percent. He also instructed officials to ensure that better medical facilities be provided to junior doctors and their family members at the state-run Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).
In statement from his office, KCR, asked the junior doctors to call-off their strike keeping in view the overall public health and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Telangana. He advised them to “join duties immediately”. The chief minister also claimed that the state government “had never discriminated” against junior doctors and added that he is is ready to solve their demands now.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister held a review meeting at his camp offie Pragati Bhavan here with medical and health department officials on the state’s COVID-19 situation, vaccination programme and other issues. It was during the meeting that the officials brought to his the strike by junior doctors’ strike.
“If the junior doctors demands are justified, the government has no objection to solve them. They can bring those demands to the government and get them solved. But it is not proper to abstain from duties now and then under the pretext of strike without even understanding the time and situation and causing inconvenience to people time and again. Moreover, going on strike under the present emergency situation caused by Corona no one will appreciate not even the people,” said the statement from KCR’s office.
Senior and junior doctors from government hospitals in Telangana boycotted work today as the government failed to meet their demands which were earlier promised by the chief minister KCR, even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 6000 senior and junior doctors in the state representing 15 government hospitals including Gandhi , Osmania , MGMH Warangal and others today boycotted their duties, demanding the government to immediately fulfill their demands failing which they will continue to boycott from work till demands are fully met.
Dr. P. Rahul and Dr. Srikanth, president and vice-president of the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (JUDA) said that they submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Osmania General Hospital demanding the 15 percent hike in stipends for post graduates and interns which is due from January 2020 to be released immediately.
The other grievance, as cited by the association President, was that healthcare workers and their family members were unable to find a bed for treatment. “NIMS is always occupied with limited beds and we urge you to increase the bed capacity and issue a circular for free treatment for healthcare workers and their family members,” said Dr.Rahul.
The letter also demands insurance for medical students up to post-graduate, in accordance to GO-74. “The ex-gratia of 50 lakh for doctors and 25 lakh for nurses and supporting staff that was announced has not been implemented so far. We will boycott service if the demands are not met by May 25, 2021,” the letter read. The Junior Doctors Association (JUDA) had given two weeks’ time to the government to meet their demands